Jaws of Fear
by J.R.R. Not-Tolkien
Summary: Jay has galeophobia. Scarred by horrific memories during his child and teenagerhood, he's more than terrified when he learns that he and the Ninja team have to go up against the very creature that traumatized him. Will he take up the courage to finally overcome his phobia and prevent the same incident from happening twice? *INTENSE, BLOOD* (WILL REMAIN INCOMPLETE UNTIL LATER)
1. It All Started With A Movie (Kinda)

**Okay, no time to really chat, so I'll give you a quick once-over:**

 **This story was inspired by a nightmare I had a couple nights ago. For the most part, it is accurate to my dream. It has descriptive mentions of blood and death, so you're warned.**

 **Also, I wanted to let y'all know I'm going on vacation from the 5th to the 10th, and I'm not bringing my computer, since I'll be so busy going to amusement parks! Disneyland, Legoland, and Worship Night in America all in the same time span?! YAAAAAAAASSSSS!**

 **And yeah, this is one of my rare "first person POV" stories, for the most part coming from Jay's point of view.**

 **Hope you like!**

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 **1\. It All Started With A Movie (Kinda)**

 **(Jay's P.O.V.)**

It all started with a movie . . . kinda. The whole thing goes back a lot farther than that one summer day the guys were watching that movie, but I don't wanna get to that yet.

Anyway, I came into the media den after a scorching bout on patrol duty. Patrolling should sure as heck be illegal in 90° weather like this, but Sensei insists that even though Nadakhan and the Sky Pirates may have been taken care of, we've still gotta be on our A-game with keeping an eye out for trouble. I'm just so glad that that police officer guy - what was his name - Tommy, let me know Sensei was calling me back to the _Bounty_ , since I did the stupid thing and forgot to take either my phone or walkie-talkie with me and I could _not_ have survived another thirty seconds out in that blazing heat.

Lessee, where was I . . . oh, yeah, I had just gotten back from patrol and I headed straight into the den, hoping the Wii U was free. _Lego Dimensions_ is the _perfect_ way to relax on a sweltering day like this. But unfortunately, the other guys were watching a movie, and judging by the way their eyebulbs were glued to the screen, there was no sweet-talking them into a round of _Dimensions_. Even Zane seemed to be riveted to whatever movie was playing (I couldn't see from my current standing spot), and _that_ was something.

From the two-seater loveseat that was just blocking my view of the TV, a pair of gorgeous amber eyes noticed me standing a little awkwardly in the doorway. Nya smiled at me in that dazzling way that always makes my knees melt into hot butter. I grinned nervously back and I mouthed a shaky "Whatcha watchin'?" Gosh, she's so beautiful it makes me a little dizzy. . .

I couldn't really tell what she mouthed back, it looked like she was saying my name, and then she gestured to the empty spot on the loveseat next to her, inviting me to sit down. Tiptoeing into the den as quietly as I could, I slipped in next to Nya. She snuggled her head into my shoulder, wrapping her arms around my waist in an unexpected cuddle. "How was patrol?" she whispered in my ear, nuzzling my cheek with her head.

I was so unused to this sorta display of affection from Nya that the only thing I could reply that wouldn't make me sound like a _complete_ idiot was "Hot." Hopefully she knew what I meant. . .

Yep, she wasn't blushing. Whew, I probably would have died if she thought I had misheard her and called her "hot." Not that that wouldn't be accurate, but the guys really hate it when we start making out in the middle of a movie. Speaking of which, I still didn't know what it was. Gah, I gotta work on my lip-reading. . .

I tore my gaze away from the angel at my side to look at the TV screen. All right, movie geek brain, get to analyzing: the quality of the movie suggested it was a bit on the oldish side, probably 1970s. . . That was as far as I got before my mind froze.

I was literally paralyzed, unable to look away from the huge gray-and-white monster swimming across the screen. The rows of serrated fangs, the eyes rolled back in the head so its eyes were blank black orbs, the blood trailing behind its waving tail. . .

Old memories flashed through my head, with this terrifying leviathan as the centerpiece of them all. I had to get out of here before I could either scream or burst into tears. The memories were just too painful for me to just sit there and stare at the cause of them.

I squirmed out of Nya's arms and ran out of the room, not caring that the others had paused the movie and were staring at me in bewilderment. I won't relive those frightening memories again. I can't. That . . . that creature had scarred me for life.


	2. What the Heck is Galeophobia?

**HIIIIIIIIIIII! XD XD XD VACATION FEVAH OVAH HEYAH! (Holy cow that was strange XD XD)**

 **First thing I wanna do is rant: on my vacation (which was epic, btw) I came up with four new ideas for Ninjago stories! (Well, technically five, but one of them isn't Ninjago, it's original, so I can't count it here XD) If you want me to tell you what they are, don't be shy! I REALLY wanna tell people! XD XD XD (Not sure why I underlined that, just wanted to make sure y'all could see it XD)**

 **On to the review replies: hold up: lemme count . . . four reviews, six favorites, and seven followers?! On the first chapter?! Maybe I should write this darker stuff more often XD Naw, I'd scare myself XD**

 **MasterofCupcakes: Yep, it's _Jaws_. Never watched it myself, but I've heard of it, and thought it would be a pretty good premise for the story's start. Of course you can give him a hug! :D Jay, c'mere!**

 **JayFan67: I have no idea! XD And I _did_ say Legoland :D Keep the memory gun handy btw XD**

 **Ninjago1019: Thank you so much! I'm glad you like it! :D**

 **The Mayor of Ninjago City: You'll find out, my friend, you'll find out . . . *evil cackle here XD* And as a matter of fact, they had an entire STORE in the Ninjago Land part of Legoland that was all Ninjago stuff! I bought a battle pack with exclusive Tournament Zane, Samurai X, and two Sky Pirate foot soldier minifigs! :D**

 **I swear, I could spend an entire fic ranting about my trip XD But enough of that: ON WITH THE CHAPPIE! (Warning: this is kind of a filler chapter, just to set the stage for Chapter 3, which I _promise_ is more interesting than this one!)**

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 **2\. What The Heck Is Galeophobia? Well, Whatever It Is, I've Got It**

 **(Nya's P.O.V.)**

"Jay?" I knocked urgently on the bedroom door. "Jay, are you in there?"

* * *

I had been more than surprised at his response to the movie we were watching. Jay doesn't really like scary movies, especially involving blood or anything like that, so when he didn't react when I mouthed "Jaws" in reply to his question, I wondered whether he had either misread my lips or his taste in movies had changed.

I got my answer when he finally looked at the screen. He went whiter than a sheet, and I actually felt him shaking as he tried to free himself from my embrace. I loosened my arms when I saw his sea-blue eyes. They were filled with terrified tears, more afraid than I had ever seen him, even when he was running away from that gigantic Tiger Widow spider screaming like crazy, and _that_ was pretty scary.

The others had momentarily glanced at him at the exact moment his eyes fell on the TV, and they were as surprised as I was when they saw the look on his face. No one expected it when he ran from the room, obviously trying to hold back tears, a scream, or both, and we were such a frozen state of shock that it took us ten minutes to recover enough to stop the movie and try to find him.

* * *

"Well? Is he there?" Cole asked, a concerned look on his spectral face.

"I'm pretty sure he is," I said, pressing my ear to the door. "I can't hear anything, though." I rapped more frantically on the door. "Jay, you've gotta let us in!"

"I believe the best course of action is to merely open the door," Zane said practically. "Judging by his emotional state when he bolted from the den, it is a low percentage of chance that he may be hearing us asking for permission to enter."

"Zane's right, I'm not standing around any longer," Kai agreed.

Before I could stop him, his hand wrapped around the door handle and we burst into the room, almost falling all over each other in our hurry to see whether Jay was all right.

I was the first to get up from our impromptu dogpile and dash for Jay's bed. The heaving lump covered by the royal blue comforter marked with lightning symbols signaled my boyfriend's presence, and my worry for him clouding my usually sensible thought process, I threw back the covers.

Jay was curled up into a ball, hiding his face in his hands and shaking uncontrollably. Every few seconds he let out a mewling whimper like a frightened kitten, and I could see dark tear stains marking the section of sheet by his head.

When I hesitantly sat down on the bed next to him, he abruptly uncurled and threw his arms around my neck, desperately sobbing into my shoulder. I had never seen him cry like this before, and it broke my heart to see my usually cheerful, laughing boyfriend's beautiful aquamarine irises spilling over with tears like salty waterfalls.

I wrapped my arms around him and held him, even though he was taller than me, on my lap, like what my parents and then Kai did for me when we were little and I got scared. I spoke soft encouragements and stroked his velvety auburn hair, hoping I could calm him down.

* * *

 **(Jay's P.O.V.)**

Nya's reassuring arms around me and her tender petting and whispering soothed my trembling nerves, and eventually my heartbeat slowed down and my eyes only held the residue of tears. Each breath I drew somewhat shaking, I recovered enough to be fine when she tentatively scooted me off her lap, but still held an arm around my waist. I was pretty sure I couldn't talk quite yet, but hey, if you can fight without fighting, you should be able to talk without talking . . . right?

"What's the matter, Jay?" Nya asked quietly, her chocolate-amber eyes full of concern as they gazed into mine. "Was it the blood?"

I shook my head no. "Sh-sh-" I tried to speak, but the word wouldn't come out. I shuddered again, wrapping my arms protectively around myself. Even the word frightened me. I tried again. "G-g-"

"Don't try to talk, Jay," Zane said gently. "I believe I know what's wrong. You're severely galeophobic."

I raised my eyebrow quizzically. _What the heck is galeophobia?_ I thought.

Either Zane could read my expression or my mind, because he replied, "You have a deep fear of sharks. Not a general fear like most people do, but an extreme one."

I tried to mouth "Not all sharks", but my lips were too dry to even move. So I half-nodded half-shook my head.

"You're not _completely_ afraid of sharks?" Kai asked skeptically.

"You're afraid of a particular kind of shark?" Cole offered.

At Cole's question, I nodded eagerly. At that response, Zane began to list off the different shark species. "Tiger shark, hammerhead, bull head shark, angel shark, whale shark, great white-"

" _MEEP!_ " I dove under the covers. " _DON'T SAY THAT!_ " Okay, apparently I _can_ talk when I'm terrified out of my mind.

"That makes things more understandable." I peeked out from under the covers to see an embarrassed look on Zane's face. "I'm sorry that I scared you, Jay."

"It's okay," I said, smiling shakily at my friends as I tried to stand up. My legs felt like melted Jello, and I landed with a thump back on my bed. "I should be saying sorry for freaking you guys out when I ran from the den like that."

"You don't have to apologize," Lloyd assured me. "There's nothing wrong with being afraid, even if we have no clue why."

"That reminds me, why _did_ you dash out like that?" Kai asked. "You looked like you saw a-" He stopped when Cole coughed and gave him a pointed look.

"Yeah, I'd better explain. I'll try to keep it short."

Taking a deep breath, I said, "It's partly my fault. I'm not the best at lip-reading, and when Nya mouthed what I guess was probably _Jaws_ , I thought she was saying my name, so I didn't know you were watching that, and if I _did_ know, I probably would have made like a tree and left. Unfortunately, I remember every cause of my fear like it was only a minute ago. . ."


End file.
